The UK ME/CFS Biobank is fundraising for London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine because we want to support biomedical ME/CFS research.

A world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health. Its mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide.

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The CureME team has a simple mission: to understand ME/CFS. The causes of the disease remain unknown, but up to 250,000 people in the UK (and up to 17 million worldwide) have their lives changed by the condition. Despite the impact it has on lives and families, ME/CFS continues to receive little government funding.

We have an amazing resource of blood samples from people with ME, and want to maintain it and distribute our samples to biomedical researchers worldwide, who are searching for the biomarkers of the disease. Every donation helps in that effort - thank you.---------------------------------------------------

The UK ME/CFS Biobank (UKMEB) is the first ME/CFS-specific biobank in Europe, and one of the first in the world. It has collected over 30,000 aliquots (small tubes) of blood from patients with ME/CFS and multiple sclerosis (as well as healthy controls), using rigorous and consistent scientific protocols.

The UKMEB is committed to patient participation, and ensures that its research is always informed by and for the benefit of people with ME/CFS. It has already contributed to highly significant research in immunology (including on NK and T cells and cytokine profiles), genetics, virology, clinical medicine, epidemiology and on the disabling effects of ME/CFS.

We want to enable global biomedical research into ME/CFS, in the most cost-effective manner possible, by distributing our blood samples and datasets to chosen researchers around the globe. Our sample releases have already enabled studies in Valencia (Spain), São Paulo (Brazil) and Oxford (UK), and we want to take that further.

Our grants do not pay for any release costs, so additional money is needed to accelerate the release of samples to scientists. We're launching this Christmas Appeal because we want to:-- Release our samples to researchers around the world, searching for the biomarkers of ME/CFS.

-- Ensure the long-term sustainability of the Biobank as a resource.

Any funds donated will be split between these aims, with collaborating research projects to be chosen by the UKMEB Guardian Board.-- £10,000 would enable a further blood sample and data release,-- £25,000 would enable the release of samples for two or three studies to be conducted,-- £40,000 would sustain the UKMEB for 6 months in its entirety.

All donations directly support our group’s work, helping enhance and expand our research and ensuring project sustainability. If you are a UK Taxpayer, your kind donation is Gift Aid eligible.

Donations of any amount are welcome. Your gift could cover freezer storage of one set of blood samples for five years (£5), tubes for one blood draw (£10), a set of laboratory blood tests (£50), one visit by the Research Nurse to a severely-affected participant (£150), or medical equipment for clinical measurements (£2,500).

We will report back to all donors on the progress of research projects funded by this appeal. Thank you for helping support sustainable ME/CFS research into the future. More information about us can be found at http://cureme.lshtm.ac.uk/.